Jacob was chosen by God, yet he struggled with trying to control his own life and circumstances. Rising from a dysfunctional family, through years of manipulation he created chaos for his own family. However, this chosen one of God ultimately gives rise to the twelve tribes of Israel and the future line of the Messiah. Join us this weekend as we follow Jacob’s journey from deceiver to dreamer.

Week 15 Songs

Week 16 Songs

Week 17 Songs

Reading Plan

These daily readings will help prepare you for the upcoming teaching
you will hear this weekend at Grace Church. These passages will create
some context for the sermon by showing you Scriptures the author might
be quoting and some passages that contain related ideas. Our hope is
that as you follow this reading plan, it will help you become more
defined and directed by Scripture.

Week 1 Study Questions

The story of Jacob’s life begins with the story of him and his brother, Esau, as Esau gives his God-given birthright to Jacob. While Jacob’s deceptive nature is exposed, Esau’s value for the worldly and contempt for the spiritual is exposed as well. Instead of accepting the calling of God, Esau trades the eternal to satisfy immediate, temporal comforts.

Esau trades something that God is doing for something that he wants—he’s making a trade for instant gratification. In what areas of your life do you trade spiritual opportunity for physical comfort or pleasure? In what ways do you lean towards being the “immoral man” (the man consumed with the world)?

We are foolish to take a short-term compromise, comfort, or rest, and miss out on the long-term spiritual benefit. Where can we make short-term sacrifices for eternal gain? Matt lists the examples of materialism, busyness, self-absorption or self-importance, worshipping our children, affirmation, sex, comfort, being alone, friends, and acceptance. Which of these examples resonate with you the most and why?

Matt referenced Matthew 13:44 and challenged us to take our current circumstances and what we have been given and trade it all in for spiritual value. Where can you trade your circumstances, gifts, and resources for God’s Kingdom? Where are you already making this trade?

Key Points

Esau’s giving of his birthright exposes what his soul truly values—He values the worldly satisfaction of hunger over the God-given birthright. Because food is an immediate need for him, food becomes a form of pleasure and comfort that he feels he can’t get from the birthright. He chooses himself over God, dismisses God’s calling on his life, and alleviates the physical discomfort by trading in the responsibility of God’s calling for temporary gratification.

When we wonder how God could possibly exalt Jacob, with his scheming and deceptive character, we have to keep in mind that we are just as unworthy of being exalted; yet, God exalts us.

For college students and young adults: In a culture consumed with connecting and never feeling alone, there are moments where it is good to be alone, to feel lonely, and to call out for something deeper and richer than just hanging out all the time. There is value to feeling lonely and suffering alone because it deepens your soul and drives you to be comforted and find true value and acceptance in your relationship with your Creator.

Week 2 Study Questions

Genesis 27:1-40 gives us a window into what it looks like when we live a life that is not defined and directed by Scripture. When we are led by our own impulses and appetites, directing ourselves, we will ultimately be led to division and destruction. We are all ruled by something—it is necessary that we understand what it is that is governing us.

Esau and Isaac are both under the tyranny of their appetites, acting as slaves to the desires of their flesh, while Rebekah and Jacob live under the rule of ambition. In what ways do you see your heart being governed by appetite or ambition?

We are all ruled by something. If you are not ruled by who God is and what He says to be true, something else will take the throne of your heart. How have you seen this expressed in your own life? What has taken a seat at the throne of your heart recently?

Instead of going to the One who ultimately rules, Rebekah takes matters into her own hands. In view of Rebekah’s manipulative actions, Bill White challenges us to take caution: we need to leave space for God to work on our behalf. Where can you apply this truth in your life right now? Where do you need to leave room for God to work? How are you trying to step in and rule instead of going to the One who rules?

Key Points

Because we experience life in the moment, and it’s often difficult for us to see the bigger picture, Scripture helps us view a fuller perspective.

When we are truly aligned with Scripture, it produces humility in us as we recognize the brokenness of the our condition.

When we are led by our appetite, we can squander our spiritual legacy as we are driven to selfish choices. Bill cautions us that there are things in this world that cannot be undone. God is still a God of forgiveness and grace, but in this world there are consequences.

Jesus is ultimately born in the line of Jacob. In the middle of this fractured family and dysfunction, we have this blessing of God to do work and good on our behalf. God’s determination to bless is not thwarted by our failures; He is more committed to blessing us than we are committed to pursuing the blessing.

Week 3 Study Questions

Genesis 27:41 - 28:9 reminds us that we will inevitably experience the consequences of taking matters into our own hands. When we attempt to reach even a worthy outcome by disregarding how God wants us to live, the redemption of the gospel does not promise to remove all the consequences of our disobedience. Our call and challenge is to look for ways to honor God in our current circumstances, whether or not our actions caused them.

When Esau experienced injustice through Jacob’s deception, he comforted himself with the thought of revenge. To what things do you turn to console yourself in the face of injustice? How do those comforts reveal the ways you don’t trust God to be God?

When Rebekah realized the consequences of her actions, her solution was to encourage Jacob to flee instead of staying and trying to pursue reconciliation with Esau. In your own life, what are some ways you can honor God in your current situations instead of seeking to escape them?

Rebekah and Jacob wanted the right things to happen, but in their efforts to achieve the desired outcome, they chose the wrong methods. What things are you hoping for that require you to wait on God’s timing? In what ways do you find yourself trying to rush God or take things into your own hands?

Key Points

The reality of the physical and spiritual realms means that our decisions have lasting consequences. God’s redemption does not mean we can avoid reaping what we sow.

Although we manipulate situations, God in His sovereignty can use even our rebellion to bring about His glory.

When we question how God can use this kind of corruption, we must be driven to humility as we realize that our hearts are equally rebellious.

God is kind and gracious even in the midst of our failures and is faithful to keep His promises regardless of our disobedience.

Week 4 Study Questions

Jacob’s dream gives us a glimpse into the way we seek transcendence in this world. We, like his dream of the stairway reaching from heaven to earth, try to find “heaven” in worldly things that cannot provide the hope or security we desire. Only Jesus, the one true stairway between us and heaven, can satisfy our souls.

Bill mentioned that we try to “seek transcendence” in a world that will not fulfill us. What does it mean to seek transcendence? Where in your life do you expect a heavenly reality from a worldly experience? (e.g. a man seeking to bless his family is so lost in work that he loses them, a woman seeking worth gives herself to men over and over becomes desolate, parents r who organize their life around a child to help them be successful, but they become entitled, etc.)

In Genesis 28:13, God gives to Jacob all that Jacob tries and fails to obtain by his own strength; all that we truly need we cannot obtain on our own. In what ways have you tried to make sure you have a blessed life in your own strength? How can you learn to grow into the blessing God has already provided?

We can be tempted to live on the fringe of the blessings we have from our local church and be satisfied by that instead of seeking and finding that satisfaction in God alone. How might you be enlisting Grace Church as just another tool to help you live a better life? Think about the circumstances that drive you to connect to God—are you connecting to him to get what you want? Or connecting to him because he is all you need?

God’s presence is not in a physical location; God’s presence, where heaven and earth meet, is found in the people of God. The fulfillment of Bethel is us as God’s people. What does this community of people look like in your life? In what ways does your community challenge you?

Key Points

Our desire to seek transcendence on our own terms, whether moral or immoral, leads to emptiness.

God’s blessing comes on the front end, and we spend the rest of our life growing into that blessing.

Jesus is the one and only true stairway between heaven and earth.

It’s not that our sin doesn’t matter; it’s that God is so committed to bringing us together with heaven that Jesus became the bridge at great personal cost to remove the obstacle of sin and reconcile us to God.

Revelation 21:1-5a reminds us that every moment of transcendence we feel here on earth is just a mere glimpse of the glorious hope ahead of us.

Week 5 Study Questions

In our culture, we can often get confused between consequences and forgiveness. God both loves us and disciplines us; therefore, he doesn’t take away our consequences but instead uses our decisions to help shape us.

Instead of giving up or feeling discouraged when the Lord corrects us, we can see discipline as a mark that he loves us. The punishment is not a rejection; it is an embrace. When in your life has God disciplined you? What did repentance look like, and what did you learn from it? In hindsight, in what ways do you see that the discipline was actually out of love?

There are moments in our lives where we feel alone and then God shows up in ways so unique to us and our circumstances that we are overwhelmed—this is not just an Old Testament reality but is true still today. When Matt told his own story of how God directed his steps with the elementary school, did it remind you of a similar experience where God directed your steps? Share about a time when God showed up so clearly to you that you could not miss it. What does that tell us about God and his character?

We tend to want to bury issues from our past, but our past has a tendency to follow us. What patterns can you identify where past issues keep resurfacing? In the year ahead, what is one pattern of sin you’ve seen in your life that you’d like to make progress on? How can your spiritual community help you?

"In Laban, Jacob met his match and his means of discipline. Twenty years (31:41) of drudgery and friction were to weather his character; and the reader can reflect that presumably Jacob is not the only person to have needed a Laban in his life" —Derek Kidner. Has God ever used a “Laban” in your life as a means of disciplining you? How has he used difficult people and circumstances to shape and form you? What is a way that he is currently doing that?

Key Points

God’s discipline is a mark of his love for us.

When we face the consequences of our past sin once we are removed from it, it is an opportunity for us to repent on a deeper level.

Seasons of planting and harvesting cannot happen at the same time. The consequences of sin may be far removed in time from the season of sin.

You will never get difficult people and situations out of your life because that is part of what God is doing in you.

God uses us, unworthy people, to expand his kingdom—he challenges and exposes us, yet he leads and loves at the same time.

We do live with the consequences of our decisions. Sometimes redemption is easy to see, sometimes it is the long-play of eternity, but we know that redemption is coming.

God can redeem anything, but do not be characterized by using this as a free pass to take advantage of others and do what is easy for you, presuming on his grace and patience.

Week 6 Study Questions

Many times, we attribute blessing to our circumstances and the material things we are given in this world. However, as believers, we know that we are blessed with or without any worldly item or person—we are in fact blessed because of God’s presence alone.

Robby mentioned that the American culture rewards activity that can produce positive circumstances and material blessings by what seems like our own effort. If we think being blessed is based on circumstances and material possessions, we are believing that we can live a blessed life without God. How might you be seeking a formula or making an idol of your blessings instead of seeking the one who blesses? In what ways have you had a “transactional” relationship with God to obtain his blessing and favor? What were the results or consequences of that?

Just because Jacob went through six years of oppression does not mean that God was not blessing him; suffering and difficulty do not mean a lack in God’s blessing or in our faith. He doesn’t promise to take away opposition but promises to work in us through it. Are you in a season of waiting? In what ways has God continued to bless you even through difficulty?

Blessings are not for ourselves; when we are aligned with God, he blesses others through us. What has God blessed you with? What has God blessed you for? How have you seen God use the blessings he’s given you for the good of others? How are you using what he has given you to bless and serve others?

Key Points

Although “blessed” in our culture tends to put the emphasis on our physical circumstances, being truly “blessed” puts the emphasis on the blesser.

The blessing of God is when he accomplishes for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

We accept a softer version of the “prosperity gospel” when our relationship with God is wrongly determined in the moment, based on our circumstances and what he has given or not given us.

Focus on the Father as the source of what you already have not the way to get what you want.

If God is on our side then there is nothing and no one that can come up against us. God will accomplish his will.

Week 7 Study Questions

In Genesis 31, Jacob’s uncle, Laban, continues to oppress Jacob even after twenty years of treating Jacob unfairly while he worked under him. Ultimately, we see the contrast between Jacob’s faith and Laban’s faith as Jacob’s actions reveal his personal relationship with the one true God while Laban’s actions expose that his faith is based only on knowledge and cannot bear up under the weight of adversity.

Bill contrasts the faith of Jacob and Laban as being “personal” versus “propositional.” In what ways does your current faith in Christ lean more towards personal or propositional (knowledge and information based)?

Jacob’s and Laban’s faith can also be contrasted as “experimental” vs. “theoretical.” How have you been experimental in your faith this year? If you identify more with a theoretical faith, of acknowledging who God is but not acting on it, what steps can you take to move towards an experimental faith? What warning signs can help you identify when you are drifting from a personal and experimental relationship with God?

Laban puts his hope and trust in household idols that Rachel has taken from him. In what ways are you giving yourself too heavily to worldly ideas and experiences? What good things have the potential to become idols for you (e.g. children, marriage, finances, job, hobbies, friendships)? When have you felt the tension between pursuing friendships, “fun” activities, or general “busyness” with good things versus prioritizing your time and schedule for growth and serving others?

Key Points

Jacob spent twenty years under the oppression of one man yet is being transformed into a faithful follower of God; we should learn to measure change in our lives over the long haul or else we may get discouraged with slow progress.

A lot of times, our faith is disproportionally propositional and theoretical causing us to feel the tension between living a consumeristic life in this world and giving our lives away to others. If we continue to live in theoretical faith where we don’t put what we know about God into practice, then that faith is not going to yield fruit long-term in our lives, and the time will come when we realize its vanity and emptiness.

We become powerless and foolish when we worship powerless and foolish things.

Jacob’s boldness at the end of this passage comes from a foundation of experimental faith. Faith based on this foundation produces real power in the face of adversity.

Week 8 Study Questions

We are quick to look at our disappointments, failures, physical wounds, and trials as “losses” when really these markers are a great mercy as they remind us daily of our need for and dependence on God. When we lose sight of our need and walk in independence instead of humility, we miss out on what God has for us.

Jacob was fearful to face Esau years after he had wronged him but appealed to him with a humble countenance. When have you had to face someone years after a conflict where you wronged them in some way? Is there someone currently to whom you need to apologize where you have let time or distance be your excuse?

In this passage, we see Jacob finally showing some humility, recognizing that everything he has is from God. In the same way, it should be a daily part of our worship to humble ourselves before God and say, “I came here with nothing, but you have given me everything.” Why is it important that this is a part of our daily worship? Where in your life have you seen negative consequences from perceiving earthly things or people as yours instead of God’s provision and blessing?

We heard multiple examples of God using circumstances in people’s lives to get their attention and redirect them to dependence on him. What situations in your life has God used to consistently remind you of your dependence? What puts you in a position to call out to him?

It is God’s mercy that Jacob’s wound will, for the rest of his life, remind him of his need to be dependent on God. How might you be living with the illusion that you have things under control? Can you tolerate the idea that when you serve him he might take away your hopes and dreams? What is a time in your life when God destroyed everything you wanted to give you something better?

Key Points

The one who loses when they fight with God is the one who wins. If Jacob wins the battle, he doesn’t recognize his need for God and misses out on all that God has for him. We face this same reality as we lose in our fight with him yet at the same time gain a deeper dependence on him.

For the believer: It is an act of worship to express your dependence on God.

For the non-believer: Surrender to the gospel—it is an issue of humility.

Week 9 Study Questions

In Genesis 33, we read of the reconciliation between Jacob and Esau as they finally meet again. While we expect Jacob to have mastered dependence on God at this point, we watch him instead choose to rely on himself again. Jacob and Esau’s stories make it clear that we can’t make either of them the “good guy” or the “bad guy”; rather, they remind us that we can only look to God as the hero.

After years of speculating about Esau’s response, Jacob finally meets him. In what ways does Jacob exhibit faith? Self-reliance? How does this mixture of faith and self-reliance show up in your life? What are some long-term consequences from the times you have reverted into self-reliance?

Rather than fully trust God’s promises, Jacob’s old patterns of deception, fear, and need for control show up again in Genesis 33 where we see Jacob sow seeds of destruction in his own family. What are ultimately the roots of our fears, deceptions, or trying to manage the consequences of sin? What are we believing about God when we act out of fear? How do we fight against these patterns?

The story of Jacob and Esau’s reunion makes it hard to see either one of them as the hero of the story. Seen correctly, God is the hero of this unfolding story because only God can come through for us every time. Other than God, who can you find yourself looking to to be the hero of your story, and what have some of the results been in those situations? What or who are you looking to to complete you or fill you up?

What qualities of God make him uniquely qualified to be the hero of our stories? What needs to change in our thinking, practical decisions, and regular routine to ensure God is the primary hero of our story?

Key Points

Only God has the power to perform and the character that can always be trusted.

Fear that someone you expect to perform for you will disappoint or fail you prevents you from loving them well.

Preoccupation with trying to get what you need from someone for whom you have unmet expectations will prevent you from being able to serve them. We are free to love and serve others with reckless abandon when we recognize God as the only one who can satisfy all that we need.

By always scheming and even using his family as human shields for his favorite wife and son, Jacob inflicts wounds that will be destructive. Instead of using this opportunity to trust God and have confidence that he will do what he says he is going to do, Jacob mixes self-reliance in with his faith and brings long-term consequences for his family.

Week 10 Study Questions

The story of Jacob’s life reminds us time and again that God is the hero of every story.
Although we can learn from Jacob’s choices and the promises of God fulfilled
through his life, we are ultimately directed toward God as our only need and greatest
satisfaction. God requires more from us than half-hearted obedience; as Jacob
decides in Genesis 35, we have to decide it’s time to bury our idols and bring our
half-hearted devotion to God to a close.

Application

One of our responsibilities as believers is to remember. The world is always dragging us away, deflating our memory of who we are in God and what he is doing. How has your view of God been deflated? How can the local church help us to remember? What are the spiritual disciplines in your everyday life or week that feed your soul and give you opportunity to remember? If you don’t have them, what is something you can commit to starting this week?

Even though we say we worship one God, oftentimes we are actually “covering our bases” with other functional gods at the same time. How have you seen this to be true in your life? How might you be living out of the comfort, drive, ambition, life, or happiness of something other than God? Why does it seem easier to us to add him to the list instead of replacing the list with him?

Sometimes God takes everything away and offers nothing in return except himself. What do you need to bury under the tree like Jacob? What is the action step for you to separate yourself from the thing that is separating you from God? How can you actively choose him and let go of something that is pulling you away, distracting you, and dividing you from him? (Examples: addictions to material things, money, a dating relationship, friendships or a friend group, time, comfort, ambition, long-life, sin you have been harboring or not confessing)

Following God does cost at some point. When has it really cost you something or someone to obey him? What is your “trifecta of comfort” that keeps you from actually sacrificing anything? What would it look like to dismantle all of that and trust God with the consequences?

In what ways does Jacob’s story contradict the “health and wealth (prosperity) gospel” and the idea that if we follow God, all things will go well for us? In what ways can we fall into the trap of bargaining with God and thinking that if we do our part, he will be kind and gracious to us?

Key Points

God doesn’t save us because of us, but in spite of us.

Worshiping one God leaves us vulnerable and dependent—unable to hedge our bets in ways that bring comfort and satisfaction in case God doesn’t come through.

Jesus isn’t an add-on to our list of gods; he replaces all of them with himself.

When something is broken, we have to deal with it, or it produces bad fruit. Out of obedience, we separate from it and let it die, and God will either bring it back to us in a redeemed way, or he will take us to a different place.

The reality of our world is that we cannot get rid of loss to just enjoy God’s blessings; we actually get both. We live in the tension that the abundant life embraces both the incredible sorrow and the incredible blessing of God.

God is incredibly kind and gracious, and he calls us to respond and turn towards him.

Week 11 Study Questions

We see two threads being woven into the story of Jacob’s son, Joseph, and his brothers: the escalation of sin and the providence of God. We can trust God in spite of both the sin in us and around us and of the resulting consequences.

Application

The sin in Jacob’s life has negative consequences on his family. His sons pick up his deceptive ways and put them into practice. How have you experienced consequences due to someone else’s sin? How have you seen your sin affect those around you?

James 1:14-15 reads, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” It is clear that unaddressed sin escalates. How do you see this process play out in the life of Jacob? How have you seen this process play out in your life, where one sin escalates leading to more sin and more consequences?

We learn from Jacob and his sons that harboring sin in our hearts will reveal itself in destructive ways. Is there sin fostering in your heart that needs to be confessed and repented of (jealousy, envy, hate, lust, anger, selfishness, etc.)? Who are you willing to confess it to?

What is a particular situation, resulting from sin, that you need to stop trying to fix but instead put your trust and faith in God’s providence? What is a practical step of belief that in his providence, he is redeeming and rescuing even in the sins of others?

Robby said, “God may be silent, but he’s not still.” God’s providence reminds us that he is always at work. In what area of your life or in a loved one’s life does he seem silent to you? In moments when it appears that sin has been victorious, how have you trusted that God is at work?

Key Points

There is always a cost to sin. It affects others whether we acknowledge it or not. Sin is not only destructive to us but undervalues others, not giving them the value they deserve as children made in the image of God.

Unaddressed sin is dangerous, waiting for any opportunity for expression. Sin left alone, unconfessed and unrepented, will grow and will have consequences. A pattern of sin generates more and additional sin.

“Meanwhile . . .” (Genesis 37:36) the story was just getting started. The hope in all of our stories is that it’s not over yet; we are unfinished. And God’s providence—his governing will and protective care—is greater than all of the sin in every situation. We can have confidence in and trust that God is a personal God who is involved in every detail of our everyday lives.

God is not removed from us, he is invested in us.

If we are to defeat sin, it is before it has a chance to act—being in community, sensitive to our conscience and the Holy Spirit, not defensive, and willing to confess and repent. We have the power to overcome sin because of the death of Christ and his resurrection.

Confession helps to stop the cycle of ignoring our sin.

God may seem silent, but we can be confident that he is moving the pieces of our lives into place to accomplish his will in a way that will most glorify him.

Week 12 Study Questions

Genesis 46:1-47:12 answers the “How” of “How does God orchestrate and accomplish his purposes?” When we face difficult circumstances and ask, “How are we going to get through this?”, we can be reminded that Joseph probably asked the same question in the pit or in jail, only to one day stand next to Pharaoh as a leader of Egypt and, in turn, accomplish God’s purposes all along. Every moment of difficulty, confusion, and diversion—even through 400 years of waiting—leads perfectly to the fulfillment of God’s promise in Canaan.

Joseph experiences tremendous highs and lows in his circumstances but remains faithful to God throughout. What can we learn from Joseph? How can we keep our faith from wavering when things are difficult? How can we not become self-reliant and independent when things are going well for us?

Matt describes why the Israelites needed the 400 years in Egypt to grow and mature enough to take advantage of the blessing he had for them in Canaan. Describe a time in your life when you were frustrated with God’s timing, but it proved over time to be exactly what you needed. How can remembering these times help us in the future when we grow impatient in our circumstances?

Read Ephesians 3:20-21 (if you are in a group, read together). When has God accomplished more in your life than you could have even imagined beforehand? How have you been made aware of God’s mighty power in the last few weeks?

Key Points

There are days in the Christian faith where you just follow and obey, trusting that God is working even in our confusing or difficult circumstances.

It is a precarious notion for us to evaluate God in any given moment and in any circumstance to see if he is being “good to us.” His evaluation of good is on a different scale.

Through the story of Joseph and his family, we see the sovereign hand of God twisting events to accomplish his purposes; they walk into Egypt just hoping not to starve and come away with restoration, jobs, protection, and Egypt’s best land where they will be able to grow and thrive.

Pharaoh is blind to his own weakness. Even though Jacob who has nothing appears to be the weakest one in the room, he blesses Pharaoh twice. The true king who sent him is infinitely more powerful than Pharaoh.

As believers, it only makes sense for us to put our hope and trust in a God whose timing is perfect and track record impeccable.

Week 13 Study Questions

At the end of his life, Jacob is confident of his future and of God’s power and sovereignty over all things. He is able to look back on God’s faithfulness to him and, with the fullness of faith, pass on this blessing to his grandchildren.

In Genesis 48:2, we see Jacob not focused on himself but gathering his strength to do the work God still has for him to do and pass on to others what God has given to him. How can you emulate Jacob in this? What can you do to age well?

We struggle to believe God’s sovereignty because it destroys our illusion of control, puts us in a position to trust a God we can’t understand, and places us in a supporting role in our own life story.

How and where does the illusion of control show up in your life? We all create systems that give us the appearance of safety and control—what are yours? (e.g. having the “right” friends, your children being on the “right” team or going to the “right” school, etc.)

What are some areas where you find yourself trying to be the center of your own story? How might you be living like this life is all about you, and what can you change or re-prioritize so that you are in a supporting role for what God is doing beyond you instead of the lead role?

How does your soul wrestle with trusting a God you can’t control or understand? In what areas do you find yourself expecting God to justify himself to you? How might you need to repent of unbelief?

As Jacob’s life is ending and he looks back over his life, he displays full confidence that God is almighty and worthy of being trusted. How have you or how have you not become settled and confident that God is almighty and can be trusted with your future? Where in your life can you practically embrace God’s sovereignty, or where do you need to fully trust God?

Key Points

The end of Jacob’s life doesn’t affect his confidence in his future; his body is failing him, but he sees himself as a dispensary of God’s grace.

God asks us for obedience without always providing answers; love your children enough to train them now in the discipline of humbling themselves under authority and being obedient.

This life is not about you—the eternal purposes that you give your life away to will endure beyond you. At the end of the day, it is God’s story, not ours.

The kingdom of God is being revealed in such a way that no one can boast—in the small, dark, unimpressive, and difficult places.

Week 14 Study Questions

Jacob gives his last words to his sons, blessing them and reminding them of what is important. While we can so easily get caught up in what our seasons of life “should” look like and how our lives “should” look at the end, Jacob’s final words remind us to be eternally focused with steady and enduring faith.

We must come to terms with the fact that our bodies, our dreams, and our goals are all in decline. With this in mind, what temporary things are you tempted to put your hope in? What are a couple examples of how you know that you are finding false hope in these dreams, people, material things, or goals? How can we practically shift our hope to God, the one who is eternal and can be trusted with both our earthly and eternal future?

Jacob’s faith was steady yet unclear; he had a vague understanding of eternity on this side of the cross. We are the ones with more concrete knowledge and understanding of God, yet we still doubt. What are some of the examples of knowledge and understanding that Matt listed out? How do these hold up against your doubts and unbelief?

At the end of your life, there will be unfinished business with your marriage, children, grandchildren, friendships, money, relationships, ministry, work, and even in your own soul. It will take faith to leave things unfinished and undone like Jacob did—not even able to see God's promises come to fruition. Is this concept hard for you to grasp? How does it change the way you see your current day-to-day life? Where might you feel a false sense of control over something that will be left unfinished and in the hands of God?

Looking back on the Jacob series, what has God taught you? What ways can you apply this story to your own life in the days and weeks to come?

Key Points

Sin never trends in a positive direction.

Jacob reminds Joseph that there were times in his life when God was his strength and Jacob couldn’t be; while Jacob’s strength is temporary, the transcendent strength of God outlives parents and will be with their children always.

In his final moments on this earth, Jacob had a solid understanding that our hope has to be in something else beyond this life—”reaching to the heights of the eternal hills” (Genesis 49:26).

We all want peace, but for peace, there must first be justice. Ultimately, the Lion of Judah will bring forced submission to the nations who have rejected him, bringing justice and resolving abuse, racism, violence, and every other injustice we endure, and then there will be peace.